San Francisco Homelessness in the Media 2009
Homelessness in San Francisco came under increased media attention in mid-2007, especially through an ongoing series in The Chronicle. This page will provide links and summaries of those stories, as well as other sources, in order to give SFHomeless.net users an overview and ready access. This page is meant as a resource. Please do not use summaries as a place to voice opinions or make judgments. Please feel free to add links to stories that deal specifically with SF Homelessness published since Summer 2007. Thank you. 3/13/08 - The Chronicle - CW Nevius "How helping the homeless can hurt them" Summary: James Hill died recently in the library bathroom from an overdose. Hill had several court dates where the DA wanted to convict Hill of quality of life violations and require treatment. However, advocate attorneys and the courts made the prosecution too complicated with evidence rules. 3/11/08 - The Chronicle - CW Nevius "Conscience of a conservatorship" Summary: City is gearing up to use court conservatorships to place some homeless in facilities to forcibly treat their mental disabilities. 3/11/08 - The Chronicle - Wyatt Buchanan "S.F. to make homeless shelters more homey" Summary: Supervisors likely to pass Shelter Standard of Care legislation and mayor is now supporting. 3/8/08 - The Chronicle - CW Nevius "Cracks in Newsom's plan for homeless in S.F." Summary: Addicts get housing and use their new rooms for getting high. 3/5/08 - The Chronicle - Cinnamon Stillwell "Homeless by the bay" Summary: Columnist adds her opinion to the discussion, which is filled with a lot of judgment of SF's homeless and politicians and advocates, and respect for New York's "tough love" homeless model. 3/2/08 - The Chronicle - Kevin Fagan "Homeless, Mike Dick was 51, looked 66" Summary: Homeless for decades, Mike Dick got into an SRO, but died 15 months later. UCSF study finds that many long-term homeless are dying from years of poor health even when they are saved from the streets. 3/2/08 - The Chronicle - CW Nevius "Why so many panhandling cases get dismissed" Summary: Mayor and DA want to prosecute aggressive panhandlers, but complain that advocates are getting most tickets dismissed because courts are requiring full prosecution. 2/27/08 - SF Bay Guardian - Bryan Cohen "Beyond beds: Mayor's Office stalls legislation to create standards of care for homeless shelters Summary: Mayor's office opposes Shelter Standard of Care legislation; many others believe it is overdue. 2/26/08 - The Chronicle - CW Nevius "City must strengthen approach to liquor stores" Summary: The City's 867 liquor stores, with a high concentration in the Tenderloin, seem to be contributing to the chronic inebriation problem, but there is difficulty coming up with a solution. 2/20/08 - SF Bay Guardian - Bryan Cohen "No shelter from the budget storm: Buster's Place, the city's main 24-hour homeless drop-in center, faces closure" Summary: Buster's Place faces closure, again, in budget battle. 2/12/08 - SF Bay Guardian - Amanda Witherell "Shelter shuffle: Inside San Francisco's confounding system of housing the homeless" Summary: Reporter goes undercover and stays at shelters 1/31/08 - The Chronicle - CW Nevius "Haight neighbors recycle anger about homeless" Summary needed 1/30/08 - SF Bay Guardian - Amanda Witherell "Setting Standards: San Francisco's homeless shelters, overdue for basic necessities, may be about to change" Summary needed 1/29/08 - The Chronicle - CW Nevius "Slaying on Russian Hill" Summary: Killing of mentally ill panhandler by police raises old issues. 1/8/08 - The Chronicle - CW Nevius "Mayor's new homeless policy guru is eager for change" Summary: Dariush Kayhan is the new homeless policy director for San Francisco and has a mandate to implement the Mayor's old policies and some new ones too. 12/23/07 - The Chronicle - CW Nevius "If you want to help the homeless, just say yes" Summary: Nevius makes personal call to Coalition on Homeless to put forward solutions to homeless issues, and accuses COH of avoiding dialogue with him. 12/20/07 - The Chronicle - CW Nevius "Tacoma's novel notion to aid inebriants: cheap-booze-free zone" Summary: Tacoma has ban on selling cheap alcohol in their Tenderloin area, but SF isn't able to duplicate that because of California state law. Local retailers won't volunteer to stop selling, but Washington retailers have had some success. 12/18/07 - The Chronicle - CW Nevius "S.F. paramedic says homeless people burden hospitals" Summary: Former paramedic Niels Tangherlini drives around and helps chronic inebriants before they burden the ER system, but still the ER system is overburdened with repeat users and needs fixing. 12/16/07 - The Chronicle - CW Nevius "S.F. leaders hear about Portland's approach to homelessness" Summary: Portland's sit-lie law moves the homeless away from businesses between 7AM and 9PM, and business leaders help provide public restrooms and other amenities. 12/14/07 - BeyondChron.com - Randy Shaw "Chronicle Begins Attack on Affordable Housing Measure" Summary: Response to 12/12/07 (should be 12/13) Nevius column . Lays out different facts regarding Affordable Housing Measure and the people involved. 12/13/07 - The Chronicle - CW Nevius "Supervisor Chris Daly gets kudos of a sort" Summary: Daly and others are helping Affordable Housing Measure get serious consideration. 12/9/07 - The Chronicle - CW Nevius "A flood of stressed vets is expected" Summary: One-third of SF homeless are veterans, and after Iraq a lot more are expected. However, the Federal government doesn't have much of a plan to help. 12/7/07 - The Chronicle - Paul Boden and Jennifer Friedenbach "Removing homeless from sight doesn't make them go away" Summary: Advocacy leaders respond to social and political trend of wanting homeless swept out of sight. 12/6/07 - The Chronicle - CW Nevius "Newsom hints at new plans to address S.F.'s homeless problem" Summary: Mayor says there's a new plan to require case management as part of shelter stay. 12/4/07 - The Chronicle - CW Nevius "City tackling homelessness in park, but debate still raging" Summary: Review of progress since GG Park sweeps began. HSA says progress has been made. Sunset residents say homeless in their neighborhoods are different and more aggressive and came from park. 12/2/07 - The Chronicle - Rabbi Alan Lew "Belittling homeless degrades everyone" Summary: Rage against the homeless caused by futility of past attempts to remove homeless, and degrades everyone. 12/2/07 - The Chronicle - CW Nevius "Outer Sunset on edge as homeless numbers grow" Summary: Homeless man at 7-11 in Outer Sunset stabs German exchange student at 1 AM; Sunset no longer considered safe; is it because of GG Park evictions? 11/30/07 - The Chronicle - Editorial "Berkeley says 'enough'" Summary: Chronicle editors like Berkeley city council measure Public Commons for Everyone Initiative that makes it easier to cite homeless but also provides housing and services. 11/30/07 - BeyondChron.com - Paul Hogarth - "Chronicle Exploits Meeting With Galvin to Bash Homeless" Summary: Religious Witness responds to Chronicle story of 11/29/07 11/29/07 - The Chronicle - CW Nevius "Rays of light in dark discussion of S.F.'s homeless" Summary: Chronicle editorial board meets with Religious Witness With Homeless People 11/27/07 - The Chronicle - CW Nevius "Supes tinkering with Newsom's park camping ordinance" Summary needed 11/15/07 - The Chronicle - CW Nevius "Heroes, concerns in case of homeless assault suspect" Summary needed 11/8/07 - The Chronicle - CW Nevius "A challenge for S.F. mayor: Clean up the streets" Summary needed 10/18/07 - The Chronicle - CW Nevius "City's homeless shelters clean, safe, but shunned when it's dry" Summary needed 10/14/07 - The Chronicle - Editorial "What to do with the homeless" Summary: Chronicle editors discuss avalanche of SFgate comments concerning recent homeless articles. 10/11/07 - The Chronicle - CW Nevius "Something's Got to Give: Homeless advocates and the city's leaders need to stop yelling at each other and work toward a solution" Summary needed 10/9/07 - The Chronicle - CW Nevius "'Enough is enough,' S.F. says of homeless: Residents of a famously liberal city appear to be changing views" Summary needed 10/4/07 - The Chronicle - CW Nevius "C.W. Nevius visits the homeless sweep area South of Market" Summary needed 9/23/07 - The Chronicle - CW Nevius "Golden Gate Park update - fewer needles, homeless campsites" Summary needed 8/5/07 - The Chronicle - CW Nevius "The Face of S.F.: Homeless camps and syringes in Golden Gate Park aren't new, but nobody disputes that the city's crown jewel deserves better" Summary needed 7/31/07 - The Chronicle - CW Nevius "Unlikely view from decks of tony homes: homeless campsites" Summary needed 7/29/07 - The Chronicle - Matier and Ross "The Situation at Golden Gate Park: Sunday in the park -- with needles" Summary needed 7/24/07 - The Chronicle - CW Nevius "Here's the Real Problem in Golden Gate Park: Newsom's Failure: Despite his vow to clean up the city's gem, homeless encampments and used syringes litter the area" Summary needed Category:Media